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(ScienceBlogs) Unlikely New poll shows that Americans have as higher level of understanding of evolution than any other country in the world   (scienceblogs.com) divider line 325
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wmoonfox 2009-07-02 05:04:50 PM  
And that's why God hates us -- we live in sin every day.

 
xria 2009-07-02 05:05:30 PM  
In all countries polled more people agreed than disagreed that it is possible to believe in a God and hold the view that life evolved on Earth by means of natural selection at the same time,

Surely this should be 100% in every country, that it is lower suggests some people didn't understand the question. Note particularly that is says "a God", not "your God". So disagreeing with this is claiming that every faction of every religion that ever does, did or will exist is incompatible with natural selection/evolution. That is beyond Creationist level crazy - that is into such deep denial of reality that you are making clearly non factual statements about everyone else, not just yourself and your own beliefs.

 
the-meter-man 2009-07-02 05:05:52 PM  
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

 
Spanky_McFarksalot 2009-07-02 05:06:19 PM  
The polls say one thing but he wants to believe another.

International survey vs. "I done talked to folk"

 
CrankMyBlueSax 2009-07-02 05:06:34 PM  
goalie0002: I like how they present evolution as a fact, and not a theory, and we MUST believe and understand it or we're idiots.

Well, it pretty much is a fact. Of course you don't have to believe the evidence. It is the combination of willful dismissal of overwhelming evidence and the delusional belief in imaginary beings that makes you an idiot. But I'm ok with that. I hope you are happy as well.

 
darkvstar 2009-07-02 05:06:38 PM  
patrick767: 1) Those who know and know they know.
2) Those who know and don't know they know.
3) Those who don't know and know they don't know.
4) Those who don't know and don't know they don't know.


5) People who write stupid questions for polls forcing a yes or no answer when a qualified maybe is the only correct answer.

6) People who get annoyed with group 5 and answer stupid questions with stupid answers

7) People who actually talk to pollsters

8) the rest of us, who have better things to do with their free time

 
James F. Campbell 2009-07-02 05:06:39 PM  
kerpal32: DamnYankees: Yeah, no. Thinking you understand != understand.


Yeah well, the same exact thing can be said about PZ Meyers. sheesh.

understanding and belief in evolutionary theory != atheism

/note, I am not a believer in "intelligent design".


You do know he ripped the content of that drawing off from Charles Pellegrino, right?

 
dbcooperlives 2009-07-02 05:06:43 PM  
GeorgeBurns: A question for people here who actually know anything about evolution:

Ok, so I know a lot of theoretical work has been done since Darwin (like Genetic Altruism, etc.) but what I don't hear about it the problem of people.

No doubts, we share a common ancestor with slime mold (or maybe life sprung up in isolated locations all over earth) - I don't doubt that. But what happens when free will, or may hyper intelligence interferes with the natural course of evolution.

For example, a woman can make herself a more attractive mate by getting plastic surgery, and therefore reproduces something like inferior genes. And it's not even known if there is a human baseline for "attractiveness" like there is in other species.

The question is, is there a theory of evolution that deals with this problem? If so, what is it?



Um..... yousse needs mor scooling.

 
WhyteRaven74 [TotalFark] 2009-07-02 05:07:03 PM  
goalie0002: I like how they present evolution as a fact, and not a theory, and we MUST believe and understand it or we're idiots.

Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution, is a theory.

GeorgeBurns: and therefore reproduces something like inferior genes

What any individual does isn't much of an issue. You have to look at a whole population and go from there. Of course with humans, our genes allow us to be smart enough to figure out ways to overcome various genetic issues.

 
highendmighty 2009-07-02 05:07:22 PM  
Why did my post have to go under the jack-off pic?
God timing sucks sometimes.

 
squirrelinator 2009-07-02 05:07:26 PM  
Assertion: Americans do not have a high level of understanding of evolution.

Backed up by: nothing.

Good work there, Lou.

 
paygun 2009-07-02 05:07:41 PM  
highendmighty: Just because there is a small number of very vocal creationists in the US, doesn't mean that other countries don't have more, less-vocal, beleivers in creationism.

They know. Link (new window)

 
letrole 2009-07-02 05:07:51 PM  
Barnstormer: We are devo!

You posted lyrics. Don't post lyrics. That's something that fat girls do.

 
Codyl 2009-07-02 05:09:15 PM  
Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?

Oh well... As long as I make it for Act II where white liberals self loath and make fun of how dumb Americans in general are.

Cody

 
The Southern Dandy 2009-07-02 05:09:33 PM  
I personally believe, that U.S. Americans,
are have as higher level of understanding,
because uh,
some, people out there, in our nation don't have as higher.
and uh...
I believe that our education like such as in South Africa,
and the Iraq,
everywhere like such as...

img232.imageshack.us

 
Renart 2009-07-02 05:09:52 PM  
opiumpoopy: RainWhenIDie: My grandfather was a fish. What now?

You're 1/4 a fish, and your grandmother was a Led Zeppelin fan.


At first I was like :-|
But then, I remembered reading Hammer of the Gods in high school, and I LOL'd!

 
mightybaldking 2009-07-02 05:10:53 PM  
Actually, I'll buy this. I think Rev. Comfort and Kirk Cameron have studied evolution to a higher level than I have.

I'm not a biologist, and really, I don't care enough to do more than pick up a National Geographic in the doctor's office. I'm a smart guy -- smart enough to know that I'll never be an expert, and smart enough to respect the experts so I accept what they say with a minimum of skepticism.

Comfort and Cameron however, are ANGERED by the experts. They actually get down and do their homework. They may be totally wrong, but they've studied.

I however, feel that the evolution debate doesn't matter (religiously) If there is a g-d, I'm responsible for my conduct here, regardless of how that g-d put me here. (lowercase and indefinite article intentional. Hypenated so as not to offend the joos.)

 
letrole 2009-07-02 05:11:23 PM  
Codyl: Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?
Oh well... As long as I make it for Act II where white liberals self loath and make fun of how dumb Americans in general are.

Cody



You signed your post. Don't sign your post. That's something that middle-aged losers do.

 
James F. Campbell 2009-07-02 05:11:38 PM  
Codyl: Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?

Oh well... As long as I make it for Act II where white liberals self loath and make fun of how dumb Americans in general are.


i42.tinypic.com

 
Inflatable Rhetoric 2009-07-02 05:11:48 PM  
The Southern Dandy: I personally believe, that U.S. Americans,
are have as higher level of understanding,
because uh,
some, people out there, in our nation don't have as higher.
and uh...
I believe that our education like such as in South Africa,
and the Iraq,
everywhere like such as...


I would still drink that girl's bath water.

Or, "I'd crawl across a mile of broken glass just to kiss the dog that peed on the tire of the truck that takes her panties to the laundry."

 
Unixfreak [TotalFark] 2009-07-02 05:12:23 PM  
Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

Evolution = BS

 
mightybaldking 2009-07-02 05:13:19 PM  
Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

Evolution = BS


Have you seen what a wild banana looks like?

 
madblader 2009-07-02 05:13:57 PM  
How can anyone doubt the bible? It has brought peace to the world!

/Excuse me
//I'm late for my weekly lobotomy

 
Sgt. Pepper 2009-07-02 05:14:03 PM  
Codyl: Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?Codyl: Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?

Oh well... As long as I make it for Act II where white liberals self loath and make fun of how dumb Americans in general are.

Cody

You're just in time to hear us make fun of idiots who use signatures on fark.

 
The Southern Dandy 2009-07-02 05:14:42 PM  
Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand mouth?

Evolution = BS


www.rationalitynow.com

FTFY

 
paygun 2009-07-02 05:14:50 PM  
madblader: I'm late for my weekly lobotomy

How do you keep re-growing that part of your brain? Stem cells?

 
The Bruce Dickinson 2009-07-02 05:15:01 PM  
Religion...denying reality since the dawn of man!

 
James F. Campbell 2009-07-02 05:15:14 PM  
Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

Evolution = BS


Let's not forget Kirk Cameron's "Crocoduck" argument.

 
Cthulhu_is_my_homeboy 2009-07-02 05:16:02 PM  
goalie0002: I like how they present evolution as a fact, and not a theory, and we MUST believe and understand it or we're idiots.

Yes, exactly. You farking moran.

 
Sgian Dubh 2009-07-02 05:16:31 PM  
RainWhenIDie: My grandfather was a fish. What now?

it's not just the fish . . .

/obscure to American farkers?

 
eraser8 2009-07-02 05:16:54 PM  
The Southern Dandy: Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand mouth?

Penis.

 
ThrobblefootSpectre 2009-07-02 05:17:07 PM  
Heh heh. This is an extremely poorly worded article.

In the first statistic paragraph he quotes some percentages as being those who have heard of Darwin, and in the same paragraph quotes some percentages as those "saying they had not heard of him" (italic emphasis mine.) Um, well which was it? As written, it's not clear by the end of the paragraph whether the percentages represent those who had or had not heard of Darwin.

The second statistic - the number of skeptical people - is vague. It doesn't say if this is the percentage of all people polled (like the oher statistics) or the percentage of those who answered yes to the first question. Because unless you answered, "yes I have heard of him" in the first question, there's not really much sense in asking the second question about skepticism of his theories. How can you be skeptical of something you don't even know about?

Considering this guy is a college professor with a superior attitude, seems like he would be a little better at clearly communicating the ideas he's trying to convey.

All in all, I get the impression this guy highly overrates his own competence and understanding.

 
T.rex 2009-07-02 05:17:12 PM  
i generally believe in some tenets of evolution, but i don't believe in 'survival of the fittest'. I don't think one species displaces another, just because it was lucky enough to have some genetic adaption which suits it for its environment.

i think instead, all species are always currently undergoing minute changes at the cellular level which presumably make them ALL more suited to the environment.... And eventually, species become unregonizable from their ancestors.

Species, don't dissapear, they evolve to something else.. (not including species that human made go extinct.

 
headstone 2009-07-02 05:17:29 PM  
Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

Evolution = BS

.
.
.
Have you seen how well your hand wraps around a banana?
.
.
.
/Evolution is your friend.

 
xria 2009-07-02 05:17:50 PM  
Codyl: Am I too late to join the typical group-think of farkers saying how Christians are stupid?

Oh well... As long as I make it for Act II where white liberals self loath and make fun of how dumb Americans in general are.

Cody


Yeah, yeah, "help I am being oppressed".

Why don't you campaign for a new amendment in the consititution: Freedom from criticism.

 
IStateTheObvious 2009-07-02 05:18:09 PM  
New poll shows that Americans have as higher level of understanding of evolution than any other country in the world

And still have trouble spelling the word "a".

 
miscreant 2009-07-02 05:18:18 PM  
Spanky_McFarksalot: The polls say one thing but he wants to believe another.

International survey vs. "I done talked to folk"


No, the poll asked people if they thought they understood evolution. It didn't test competence in that knowledge. They need to do a poll where they ask people if they think they're knowledgeable about evolution, and then ask questions to test that competency. Just because someone thinks they know what evolution entails doesn't mean they do. A quick perusal through evolution threads on fark will show that pretty quickly.

 
James F. Campbell 2009-07-02 05:18:47 PM  
ThrobblefootSpectre: How can you be skeptical of something you don't even know about?

This is a joke, right?

 
DemonEater 2009-07-02 05:19:12 PM  
goalie0002: I like how they present evolution as a fact, and not a theory, and we MUST believe and understand it or we're idiots.

Because it is. Evolution is scientific fact.

Along with the "theory" of gravitation.
The "theory" of electromagnetism.
The "theory" of relativity.
Atomic "theory".

The word "theory" doesn't mean "guess", even though public schools tell you that's what it means because fundies force them to undermine science. The word "theory" means "best possible current understanding, falsifiable, repeatedly tested and upheld".

Put another way:
imgs.xkcd.com

 
Inflatable Rhetoric 2009-07-02 05:19:37 PM  
The Bruce Dickinson: Religion...denying reality since the dawn of man!

Religion = Superstition + $$$$$

 
vandelay 2009-07-02 05:19:40 PM  
We certainly seem to have the Darwin thing down.

 
TheyCallThisWork 2009-07-02 05:19:49 PM  
Evolution is really the simplest thing in the world to understand. It's just that everyone is hung up on looking at it in reverse. It doesn't work in reverse. It only works moving forward.

I know a lot of Farkers like to take shots at Dawkins, but The Selfish Gene is one of the most important books you'll ever read. It has applications well outside of biological evolution. It makes no difference that Dawkins is a giant militant asshole.

 
James F. Campbell 2009-07-02 05:21:07 PM  
Also, I'm reading Dan Barker's book godless right now so I'm getting a big kick out of this thread.

 
abb3w [TotalFark] 2009-07-02 05:21:09 PM  
kerpal32: Yeah well, the same exact thing can be said about PZ Meyers.

img529.imageshack.us

 
ThrobblefootSpectre 2009-07-02 05:21:16 PM  
Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

A banana fits several places. Including multiple orifices, a couple of which, I am quite certain, we did not evolve for. So I'm not really convinced this is a good example.

 
TheyCallThisWork 2009-07-02 05:21:39 PM  
James F. Campbell:

Do you see the problem with that graph? It implies that about 90% of people have a below average IQ.

 
Galileo's Daughter 2009-07-02 05:21:56 PM  
EvilEgg: RainWhenIDie: My grandfather was a fish. What now?

Join the Justice League as the most useless superhero?


Leave Aquaman alone!

 
eraser8 2009-07-02 05:22:22 PM  
ThrobblefootSpectre: Considering this guy is a college professor with a superior attitude, seems like he would be a little better at clearly communicating the ideas he's trying to convey.

You'd be surprised how many college professors are tremendously bad communicators. At least, they're bad at communicating their ideas to a general audience.

 
andrewagill 2009-07-02 05:22:39 PM  
mightybaldking: Unixfreak: Have you guys ever seen how well a banana fits into your hand?

Evolution = BS

Have you seen what a wild banana looks like?


Yeah, it fits right in the palm of my hand. I don't know what your point is. Oh, also, here's a picture of me:

i47.photobucket.com

 
abb3w [TotalFark] 2009-07-02 05:22:52 PM  
goalie0002: I like how they present evolution as a fact, and not a theory, and we MUST believe and understand it or we're idiots.

img1.fark.net Benchmark SC.3.N.3.1: Recognize that words in science can have different or more specific meanings than their use in everyday language; for example, energy, cell, heat/cold, and evidence.
img1.fark.net Benchmark SC.6.N.3.1: Recognize and explain that a scientific theory is a well-supported and widely accepted explanation of nature and is not simply a claim posed by an individual. Thus, the use of the term theory in science is very different than how it is used in everyday life.
img1.fark.net Benchmark SC.912.N.3.1: Explain that a scientific theory is the culmination of many scientific investigations drawing together all the current evidence concerning a substantial range of phenomena; thus, a scientific theory represents the most powerful explanation scientists have to offer.

 
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